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Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, thanks so much for listening to this message. My name is Jason and I'm one of the ministers here at the Madison Church of Christ. It's our hope and prayer that the teaching you hear today will bless your life and draw you closer to God. If you're ever in the Madison area, we'd love for you to stop by and study the Bible with us on Sundays at 5pm or Wednesdays at 7pm if you have questions about the Bible or want to know more about the Madison Church, you can find us [email protected] be sure to subscribe to this podcast as well as our Sermons podcast. Madison Church of Christ Sermons thanks again for stopping by. I hope this study is a blessing to you.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: Merry Christmas everyone. Sure hope. Your day has just been phenomenal.
There's really not much better than spending time with your family, soaking up some time, detaching, disconnecting from our work and our regular practices and just looking across the table from one another. Whether we're playing games or we're eating that great meal together, whether we're sitting on the couch or in the recliner, and we're just relaxing, talking to one another, reconnecting, it's always a great time. And I love this time of year where we can do that and just detach for just a few moments. And it's great also to just take a moment to reflect about the blessings that we have in front of us and our family and friends and the people that we enjoy spending the most time with. And so I'm thankful that you took the time to open up this link and to spend some time thinking about things spiritually. It's always a good thing for us to to pause and just be reminded of the blessings that we have in front of us. We're going to talk about two things that I think you'll see are invariably linked during this time of year. You'll probably hear peace and joy a lot. And it's because everywhere you go, whether it's Hobby Lobby or whether it's some other place, you'll see that they have these little, you know, things that you can put on your shelves or canvases you can put on the wall or ornaments, you never find ornament packages that don't have joy and peace in them. Right? They're just invariably linked together. And I don't know exactly what you think of when you of peace and joy, but for me, I always think, or I've always thought of them as separate things. But I can tell, spiritually speaking, that they Are kind of linked together. We're going to talk about that a little bit. When you think about peace, for example, what is it that you think of? Where does your mind go? Well, when I was growing up as a child, when I heard peace, I always thought in terms of military or protection or being safe. You know, I would hear people about, hey, we are so blessed to be able to sleep in peace at night, to just rest and to know that we're being protected and watched over and that, you know, our military is keeping us safe. And of course, from a spiritual perspective, we always know that God is watching over us as well. But for me, that's what peace represented. Well, there was a king years ago that asked everyone within his kingdom to give him pictures and images of what they described as peace. And so a lot of these people took their paintbrushes out and they began to paint these beautiful portraits or these beautiful paintings. And he took all them up and hung them all over the walls of his castle. And he began to walk around and, you know, wanted to find the one that best represented peace. Well, it was interesting, and I'm sure you've seen this, too, but there's all kinds of postcards out there that are beautiful and maybe representations of what you would think of as peace. Maybe it's, you know, mountains in the background, maybe some trees and a lake that the waters are fairly still and you can sort of see some of the reflection. And maybe it's a sunset and you can see the beautiful colors of the sky and also mirrored on the lake as well. Or maybe it's one of those where the water is completely still. I mean, we've seen some of those pictures before, right, where it is like a mirror, the water is so still, and it reflects perfectly the image that you can see in the sky onto the water. And those things are beautiful. And the king actually saw a lot of paintings like that. He saw several that had these landscapes that had this picture of stillness. And in their minds, that's what peace represented. Well, he kept several of those. But there was another portrait that he kept that, you know, most people thought looked anything but peaceful. Well, what was that picture? It was a. It was a painting that someone had done that had, like, a thunderstorm in the background and, you know, heavy, heavy rainfall. So much so that the mountains in the forefront of this picture had cascading water coming over and hitting different rock ledges and bouncing off and ricocheting. It was just. It was really pretty, but it was one of those things that was hard for people to see the piece in the middle of it. But the key brought them over to the painting, and he zeroed in on a small area. And in a small area around all of that chaos and all of that hysteria was a mother bird on a nest, sitting on her eggs. And she had found a place within the rocks to build that nest where there was, like, a little bit of a cavern. And so all this chaos is going on all around her, and yet she is in a place of perfect peace. And the king says that's the best picture of peace. Well, that makes sense, doesn't it? Because in our own lives, we can think about times where there's a lot of chaos all around us, and we're looking for peace, we're looking for being settled. And yet the stresses, the worries of our life, the difficulties that we're facing, the challenges we're trying to overcome, the battles we're facing with other people or different things become so overwhelming that we do not know how to work through those things. And I'm reminded of that passage in Philippians, chapter 4, because God gives us really good insight into what we can do to alleviate that stress and that anxiety in our lives. And so he says In Philippians chapter 4, verse 6, he says, do not be anxious about anything, but with everything in thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all knowledge, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Well, so the first part of that is the prayer part is giving those things over to God, like taking the worries and the struggles that we're facing and saying, I can't handle these, Lord, and I need your help. I need your intervention. I need your work in the middle of all this. And there's something to be said for when we truly give those things over. Now, some of us struggle with. We want to give those over, and then we want to still try to be in control of how they're getting worked out. But God is saying, don't be anxious about those things. Give those things over to him. And then what happens as a result of us truly relinquishing those things is there's a peace that comes from that. It's an internal being settled.
We're not at war from the inside. It's very much something that we find that's just settled. And it says that when that happens, when we do give those things over, there's a piece of God that transcends or that surpasses all knowledge.
And what that means is unbelievable to Me, I mean, think about. We're intelligent people, we're smart, we're capable of understanding some things.
But this is saying there's something inexplicable about the peace that God provides for us when we relinquish those things over to Him. And it says, he'll guard our minds in Christ Jesus. So that power is coming from Jesus, right? That strength is coming from him. And it helps us in those most difficult moments. Jesus said this to his followers in John, chapter 14, verse 27. He says, I give you peace, the kind of peace that only I can give. It isn't like the peace that this world can give. And what he was talking about in the context was the reality that we were going to be given as his followers, the comforter, the Holy Spirit. And that was going to keep us settled because our view is not about things that we're going through here in this life. It's more about what we do to get to that next place in our eternal life. And the Comforter was there to remind us that Jesus is always with us. His Word is always with us. His teachings, the way he handled things, his example is always with us. And the Comforter reminds us of those things, brings them back to our recollection, and then helps us to be reminded of what his truths are in our lives. And so that's a beautiful thing. Jesus is saying, I'm going to give you peace. It's not like the peace gives that the world gives. It's a whole different piece that comes from a spiritual perspective. Isaiah 26, verse 3 says, you keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. That term stayed on you is a powerful expression. It really means in the Hebrew, to be upheld, to be supported, to be, you know, kind of on a foundation. And that makes sense, doesn't it? If you think about the very next verse of that chapter, in chapter 26, verse 4, God says, you know, I'm your stronghold, or I'm your fortress. I'm the rock, you know? And so God settles us and gives us that sense of peace in our life. In Isaiah, chapter 26, verse 12, it goes on to say, lord, you establish peace for us. All that we have accomplished, you have done for us and man. There's a sense of peace in that, isn't there? To realize that it's not about what we accomplish in this life, but that God is working through us to accomplish great things. Kind of takes the pressure off of us, right? To be perfect and to be everything that we need to be and to raise the standard that we think we can find that excellence. But excellence is only to be found in Christ. And it's kind of like what Paul used to say. He said, you know what? When I'm at my weakness, it's then that the strength of God is seen because he works powerfully in those of us who are not capable to do the things that we need to do on our own. And so I love that this passage, even in the old covenant, recognizes that everything that we accomplish and the peace that we have in our life comes from that settled part of us that says God is in control and he's taking care of us. Psalm 29:11 says this. The Lord gives strength to his people. The Lord blesses his people with peace. And I love that strength and peace are actually kind of linked together here. I think the idea is that we have such confidence, we're at such rest with who we are in Christ Jesus because of what he's done for us and the hope that we have in him, that we are stronger because of it. And there's something very powerful about that resting spirit that's not at war from within.
And it just gives us that confidence that Jesus is with us.
So that's peace, right? That's what peace is. And what, from a spiritual perspective, what it is for us, it's the fact that we're not at war within, but that Christ is with us and that we have a settled attitude about us that brings about that sense of calmness in our soul. But what is joy, again, I think about when we give gifts and we see the joy of the people in their reaction and their gratitude when they receive those gifts. I think that's something that we experience as parents, especially when our children open up gifts. It may be that you have found joy when you opened up a gift, that it was just the perfect thoughtful thing and it just meant the world to you, and you felt that joy in your hearts. And that may be what we equate with joy. It's the ups, the highs in life. It's the things that are great when life is seemingly rolling in the way we want it to. And so that brings us a sense of joy. It may be accomplishment, it may be awards, it may be a great relationship and those kinds of things. And we may say that my joy is tied to those things. But from a biblical perspective, joy is not tied to the ups and downs of life. In fact, it's not really tied to our circumstances at all. It's. It's a sense of well being that transcends those situations. But also I want to remind you that joy is also a fruit of the Spirit. In Galatians chapter 5, it says the fruit of the Spirit is love. And then what? Joy and love brings about that joy, does it not? When I think about if we fulfill the greatest commandment that Jesus gave us, which was to love the Lord our God with all of our heart and soul and our mind, and then to love our neighbor as ourselves, those two things Jesus said hang on all the law and the prophets. They accomplish all those things. If we love God more than we love anything else, and if we love our neighbor as ourselves, that that brings us this sense of mission, right? I'm doing what God wants me to do and that brings about a joy inside of me because I'm doing what God has created me. To do is to love other people. And that joy fills my heart. But also joy is an attitude that's directly tied to our confidence in what Jesus has done for us.
I can be joyful because I know Christ has overcome. And because he's overcome and I'm his, I'll overcome as well. That's why when I go through difficult circumstances and challenges in life, battles that I'm facing, I know that he's with me. And I don't know how always, I don't know exactly what's going to take place, you know, every day, but I know that with him I have this ability to overcome those things. And folks, that's exactly the example we see in Scripture. In Psalm chapter 16, verse 11, it says, you make known to me the path of life in your presence, there is fullness of joy. Think about that. When we are in a relationship with God and it's being strengthened and we are trusting him and what he's doing inside of our hearts, it brings us to that attitude of joy. But then I think about the Apostle Paul and we know the situation with him in the book of Philippians. I mean, he is in a jail, he's in a prison cell and he's, you know, kind of chained to some people. And he's, you know, in the worst of circumstances, really, here's a man who's been preaching and teaching the Gospel and it's that very thing that has gotten him placed in prison. And you know, as a result, he's in this situation that's not very great. And if we tied our joy to that circumstance, it would not be there. Right, because that's not one of those high points of life. It's a low point. But instead, you'll notice that Paul uses everything that's going on, every circumstance, to the glory of God. He says, hey, the reality is I'm here in prison, but I can tell one that I'm getting a chance to teach people that I may not have been able to teach before. The Praetorian guard and all these people that are in the jail with me, I'm getting a chance to preach to them, and that's expanding the kingdom. But not only that, while I'm in prison, there are people who are out there advancing the cause of Christ just out of sheer excitement about being a part of something, the suffering of Christ. They know that that was something that was meant to be for Christians. And. And the fact that Paul was courageously battling in the prison, continuing to preach it sort of empowered and excited the other Christians as well. And so they were out doing some great things, too. But I really want to bring you to Philippians, chapter 3, verses 10 through 13, because he's in this situation and he really wants to go out and to see the Philippians, and he says he's heard some things about them. But just listen to some of the language that is here. Verse 10. I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at length, you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance in need. Do you catch that? In every circumstance, whether it's the good things or the bad things, Paul had found the ability to be joyful in the middle of all those things. This is the same guy that said, rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice. He said that in this same letter that he's writing to the Philippians. And of course, as we think about this, he says a couple of times that he learned some things. Well, those are two different words. The first time he uses the word learned, it means kind of like the facts, the knowledge, the things that he's learned. There are things that he learned as he studied, there's things that he learned as he experienced different things. But then later he uses the word learn. And the idea is that life has taught him some things. His experiences have taught him to trust in Christ, that no matter what the circumstances are, you know, he can find Joy in, in the middle of all that. He sums up that whole text there in Philippians chapter 4, verse 13, which is one of the most popular and well known passages in all of Scripture. You know, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. He recognized the power came from Jesus, that that is what brought him his joy, is that he knew he was doing what, what God wanted him to do. And that's just a powerful thing to think about how joy is like that.
Just conclusion. As I think about this and we think about peace and joy in this time of year, there's a passage that I think brings this all together. And you know, as Christians were going around and they were teaching different people about Jesus, it was apparent that the Gentiles were also now being offered this blessing of having a relationship with Christ, to be saved, to be a part of God's chosen people, the church. And, and so it's a fascinating thing when you think about how it was, you know, Jesus was offered to the Jews first, but God's love for mankind was for everyone. And so the Jews were being brought into this blessing, this gospel message that had the power to save their souls as well. And they were invited in to that special blessing. And so In Romans chapter 15, there's a long discussion about that. But this is one of the wrap up verses of that chapter. In Romans chapter 15 it says, now may the God of hope fill you with all catch this joy and peace as you believe in him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. I hope what you're capturing from all this is that when we become Christians and we are given the Holy Spirit, there's a hope that comes inside of us, a trust, a confidence that God fulfills His promises and that gives us this sense of peace, right? I'm not at odds anymore. I can be centered on Jesus. And because I've been forgiven by Him, I know I can't be perfect, but I can live my life for him the very best I can. And in doing that, I'm going to find myself sort of settled and trusting in him. And that's going to give me a sense of peace. And the more I do things that demonstrate his love for other people, that the Spirit that dwells in me is going to produce inside of me these fruits, joy and peace. They're linked together forever. And I love it because it points us to a hope in Jesus Christ. And that is a message that is for every season.
So as we think about these things and maybe as your family talks a little bit more about peace and joy. Find yourself settled in Christ. There's a peace that comes that is inexplicable. And find yourself joyful, no matter the circumstance in life, that God is going to help you navigate through everything and bring you to that level of peace. And through those two things, man, we're going to find such confidence and hope in Christ, and it's going to help us live a greater life. It's a great message to remind us of and one to live by again. My family wishes you a very Merry Christmas. We love you all so much and we anticipate another great year. If the Lord gives us another one, and if he doesn't, and we all get to go home to heaven, that'll be great too. But we look forward to serving alongside you and we love you guys. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
